Since Russia started its invasion of Ukraine in February, almost 4 million people have fled Ukraine in one of the most significant European refugee crises since World War II. Countries, including the United States, were then faced with the pressing question of how many of those refugees to accept — if any.
By late March, the Biden administration announced that the U.S. would accept 100,000 Ukrainians and other displaced people fleeing the conflict. Priority was given to LGBTQI people, those with medical needs, journalists and dissidents. The move came amid broad popular support. A March AP-NORC poll found almost 70% supported accepting Ukrainian refugees and more than 80% supported the U.S. providing humanitarian aid to Ukrainian refugees.
Despite that support, many have criticized the administration for accepting relatively few refugees and being slow to provide refuge to those fleeing the conflict. They argue that the U.S. has long had a responsibility to help vulnerable people flee oppressive regimes. Before President Joe Biden made his announcement, members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus called on the president to use his authority to raise the global refugee cap.
While the Biden administration raised the U.S. cap on refugees from 15,000, where it had fallen under President Donald Trump, to 62,500 in 2021 and subsequently to 125,000 in 2022, many continue to argue for a higher cap, especially given the current crisis. “Increasing the maximum number of refugees that can be resettled to the United States is warranted due to the unprecedented humanitarian crises,” the members stated in a letter to Biden. They also argued that increasing the cap would send a powerful message to U.S. allies.
“Raising the refugee cap would give the United States the moral leadership to ask other nations to continue these important measures for as long as the crisis necessitates.” Refugee advocates also called on the Biden administration to do more to support those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine. “Words matter, actions matter. When it comes to refugees and leadership, the United States is falling short on both fronts,” Mark Hetfield, the president and CEO of HIAS, an international Jewish nonprofit that works to protect refugees, wrote in an op-ed on March 14. “It is getting late, but the Biden-Harris administration still has an opportunity to demonstrate American leadership by welcoming refugees — instead of relying on Eastern Europe to shoulder that responsibility alone.”
While most Americans support the move to accept Ukrainian refugees, some immigration advocates pointed out disparities in the U.S. acceptance of those refugees as opposed to those from other countries, alluding to criticism that U.S. policy favors white, Eurocentric refugees.
For example, immigration lawyers pointed out the speed with which Ukrainian refugees were granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) — a month after Russia’s invasion – while it took seven months after U.S. troops left Afghanistan for Afghan refugees to be granted the same status. TPS is a U.S. legal status that provides protection from deportation for up to 18 months and allows individuals the ability to legally work.
“I’m not criticizing the announcement that Ukrainians are getting in,” Ally Bolour, an immigration lawyer in California, said in an interview with Voice of America. “It’s to show the comparison and contrast. It’s just to show that there’s a disparity.”
On the other hand, some conservatives argued that the U.S. should prioritize the safety and security of its own citizens before extending help to Ukraine, including accepting refugees.
That mirrors the “America First” rhetoric popular on the right under the Trump administration, which sought to severely restrict immigration and refugee admissions.
“We have to focus on our own problems first,” conservative commentator and 2022 Senate candidate from Ohio, J.D. Vance, said at a campaign event in March, not long after he infamously said in an interview, “I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another.” Although Vance has walked back those comments, the sentiments echo the growing partisan divide on U.S. immigration policy that is likely to surface as a key issue in the lead-up to the 2022 midterm elections.
Whether the U.S. will accept more Ukrainian refugees and whether or not it will make changes to help speed up the immigration process for Ukrainian or other refugees will also likely remain a salient issue as the conflict continues.
For more background, see the January 2016 issue of Congressional Digest on “Refugee Resettlement.”
